Dishwashing apparatus



Aug. 2e, 195s Filed Aug. 3, 1955 G. GR-AFF ETAL 2,848,728

DISHWASHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @SWT l/ t i E '7l-f l I' E f- |l Il .Il 5 l z I I I I 4l II/ gg |I Il l I) I BQ VI I 50 57 24 i I2 44 B' 5 l1I A 47 3 22 48 I6 ,M25

I8 72 5 I7 JNVENTOR.

n 2q 2o GEORGE GRAPF 2s 25 By CLARENCECKWKER Vl ALLEN O EN 2'2 "2 il 22 @aan/#M Aug. 26, 1958 G, GRAFF Erm.A 2,848,728

DISHWASHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 3, 1955 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 6l 58 s' l? n f 7e I. N I

r 73 NW 4. E iii INVENTOR.s GEORGE GRAPE BY CLARENCE C. KmKER ALLEN OwENjI ATroRNEYs DISHWASHENG APPARATUS George Graff, Toledo, Uhio, Ciarence C. Kinker, Manitou Beach, Mich., and Alien Gwen, Toledo, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Hoover Ball & Bearing (iompany, Ann Arbor, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application August 3, 1955, Serial No. 526,24

8 Claims. (Cl. 15-129) This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Serial No. 418,108 which was led March 23, 1954 and is now abandoned.

This invention relates to a device for Washing dishes and kitchen utensiis and, more particularly, to a device for installation at the sink of a residential kitchen which permits the person washing the dishes to optionally have a ready supply of clear water or Water containing detergent which can be applied to the dishes through the medium of a hand brush for the removal of the food particles and the thorough washing of the dishes.

A dishwashing device of this type comprises both hot and cold water lines, a mixing manifold, a single swing type faucet, a diverter valve for diverting water from the faucet to a hand brush and remote means at the hand brush for controlling the operation of detergent mixing means to feed detergent into the water line from a reservoir located at the main unit adjacent its manifold.

The instant invention constitutes an improvement in such devices and has for its principal object the provision of such an apparatus which can be installed in the place of a conventional swing faucet rather than requiring that the standard fixture comprising the faucet,

the hot and cold water valve and the mixing manifold be removed.

The device of the instant invention utilizes a hand held brush unit which contains no moving part such Vas a valve or suction creating means, which is extremely light in weight, and which thus is less likely to clog or require repair or maintenance.

The device of the instant invention eliminates all moving valves and moving parts from the manually controllable means by which the user optionally selects whether clear water or a detergent containing water is fed through the hand brush unit.

In addition to these objectives the instant invention has a further important object; namely, the provision of a complete unit including a detergent reservoir, detergent and water mixing means, a flexible water line, a hand brush unit on the remote end of the water line, control means at the hand brush unit by which the operator may optionally select water or detergent containing water to ow through the hand brush unit, and a single spout and diverter valve by which the user may elect to have the water flow through the spout or to the hand brush unit, the entire unit, including all of the foregoing parts, being so constructed and arranged as to permit its emplacement in a conventional swinging spout nipple without lremoval of the usual control valves and manifold already present in single spout sink units.

The ultimate objective then of the present invention is the provision of a unit of the type disclosed in our parent application which can be installed in an average residential sink without the use of plumbing equipment and without making or breaking the conventional pipe connections already present in the kitchen.

The foregoing objects and others and the mode of their arent f 2,848,728 Patented Aug. 26, 1958 achievement will be better understood from the specification below and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view in perspective of a unit embodying the invention installed in the place of a swing spout on a conventional kitchen sink fixture;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View on an enlarged scale of the device shown in Fig. l and illustrating the manner of its mounting in a conventional mounting nipple, the section being taken generally along the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed View of a mounting adapter for positioning a device of the invention on a swing spout mounting nipple;

Eig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a further enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 and illustrating the detergent and water mixing means employed in the device embodying the invention;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a hand brush unit employed in a device embodying the invention.

A conventional kitchen sink fixture generally indicated at 10 in Fig. l includes hot and cold water valves 11 with their source lines (not shown), a mixing manifold (not shown) by which the output from the. valves 11 is fed to a single point, and a mounting nipple 12 in which such units conventionally mount a single spout through which flows the hot and cold water controlled by the valves 11 and mixed in the manifold.

A device embodying the invention has a manifold body 13 (Fig. 2) which includes a downwardly directed internally threaded socket 14, an upwardly inclined arm portion 15 and a generally horizontal manifold portion 16. A `spherical headed thimble 17 (see also Fig. 3) is threaded upwardly into the socket 14 and has a flanged head 18 which provides a shoulder for a mounting and coupling nut 19. The coupling nut 19 mounts the entire unit on an adapter nut 20 which is internally threaded and can be tightened securely down on an adapter generally indicated at 21.

The adapter 21 comprises an outer tube 22 and a center stem 23 that is threaded into the tube 22 and has a tapered end 24. The adapter tube 22 has a plurality of slots 25 cut through its walls for the reception of radially movable locking jaws 26 (only one of which is shown in place in Fig, 3). The inner ends of the locking jaws 26 are beveled so that when the stem 23 is screwed downwardly in the tube 22 its tapered end 24 thrusts the jaws 26 outwardly, biting their serrated edges into the interior of the spout mounting nipple 12. The stem 23 is forced downwardly by engaging a wrench in a socket 27 forming in the upper open end of its internal vertical passage 2f. and holding the tube 22 in place with a wrench on flats 27a near its upper end.

.After the adapter 21 has been thus firmly positioned 1n the neck of the trunnion mounting nipple 12, a mounting washer 29 is slipped over the adapter 21 and the nut 20 tightened downwardly to seal the washer against the upper end of the trunnion nipple 12. The adapter nut 28 has a concave conical end 30 for the reception of the oppositely curved head of the thimble 17. The manifold body 13 has an internal passage 31 leading from the socket 14 upwardly and forwardly to a diverter valve pocket 32 at the rear of the manifold portion 16 and co-axial with a throat 33 leading forwardly to a well 34 and aligned with a diverter stem socket 35 at the front end of the manifold portion 16.

intersecting the well 34 from the top of the portion 16 is a threaded spout socket 36 which receives a spout 37. The spout 37 is mounted in the socket 36 by a spout mounting nut 38 which applies pressure t0 the spout 37 through a snap ring 39 against which the beveled n ter line 58 thereto.

. I 3 lower, inner edge of the nut 38 bears'and which is set in an annular groove 40 in the lower tubular portion of the spout 37. A similar lower annular groove 41 provides space for an O-ring 42 -to seal around the body of the spout 37 against the escape of water. When the nut 38 is screwed down tightly into the socket 36 the spout 37 is retained in place yet free to swing because the snap ring 39 isthe only spout retaining means and the nut 38 does not clamp the spout.

Adiverter valve stem bushing 43 is threaded into the stem socket 35 and a diverter valve stern V44 extends through the bushing 43 being sealed therein by an 0- ring 45. At the forward end of the stem 44 there is mounted-a diverter valve knob 46 and at the rear end of the stem 44 there is located a diverter valve plug 47 which spans the throat 33 in its forward position but is normally held at the rear by a spring 48 surrounding the stem 45 and acting between the rear shoulder of the bushing 43 and a washer 49.0n the stem 44.

When the diverter valve knob 46 is in its rear position water'ilows upwardly from the swing spout mounting nipple 12 through the interior of the adapter 21 into theV socket 14, through the passage 31, the throat 33 and well V34 and out of the spout 37. The mixture of Water fed from the spout 37 is under the control of the hot and cold water valves 11 as was the case when the original swing spoutv of the fixture was mounted in the spout mounting nipple 12.

The rear end of the manifold portion 16 is threaded to receive an externally threaded vacuum breaker and ow control body generally indicated at 50. 'Ihe flow control body and vacuum breaker body 50 houses a ilow controlmeans and a vacuum breaker (neither of which are shown since they are conventional elements). When water is flowing through the body 50, i. e., when the diverter valve is in its forward position, the force of water opens the flow control means.

A nipple 56 is threaded into the rear of the flow control body 50 for a coupling 57 which connects a wa- The water line 58 (see also Fig, 4) is connected by a coupling nut 59 to a water passageway 60 of a Venturi body 61 (Fig. 5). The Venturi body 61 has a ared Venturi opening 62 in the water line 60 intersected at its narrowest part by a suction line 63, one branch 64 of which extends through the body 61 parallel to but spaced from the flared Venturi opening 62 and the other branch 65 of which extends to the side of the body 61 for the reception of a mounting ferrule 66 to which is connected a detergent line 67. The detergent line 67 (see also Fig. 2) contains a ferrule 52 which has a small bore 53 of diameterV less than the diameter of the air branch 64 of the suction line 63 or of any section connected thereto. The detergent line 67 dips down into the interior of a detergent tank 68 whichV is supported on top of the bodies 13 and 50 where it has a small feeding opening 69 located at the bottom of the tank 68 and then sweeps upwardly and out of the tank 68 withits upper end 70 open to atmosphere inside of a unit housing generally indicated at 71.

The mechanism so far described is mounted in the interior of the housing 71 which consists of three main parts, a base 72 that is secured to and surrounds the manifold body 13, a column 73 connected to the base 72 by assembly screws 74 (Fig. 4) and a cap 75 which is removable off the column 73. The cap 75 has a vertical slot (not shown) in its rear wall for the reception of a portion of the Venturi body 61 (Fig. 4) which body is supported by a bracket 76 extending upwardly from the column 73 and clamped thereto by one or more screws 77 which also mount a brush stirrup 78 (Fig. l) on the exterior of the column 73.

The outer end of the Venturi body 61 is threaded for the reception of a double coupling 79 on one end of a double hose 80 (Fig. 1) which leads to a hand brush unit generally indicated at 81 and shown in detail in Fig. 6. The hand brush unit 81 comprises a handle 82 having a longitudinal bore 83 for the reception of a molded head 84 on the end of the double hose 80. vThe molded head 84 has a lateral opening 85 at the end of its air hose 86 which, by means of the coupling 79 is coupled with the branch 64 (Fig. 5) of the Venturi body 61. The molded head (Fig. 6) also has a longitu-` dinal opening 87 at the end of its water hose 88 similarly connected by the coupling 79 to the Venturi opening 62 in the Venturi body 61. A screen cap 89 covers the opening 85. A bezel 90 is threaded on the front end of the handle 82 to lock the molded head 84 in the handle 82 and also to retain the flared rear end of a brush tube 91. At the front end of the brush tube 91 there is mounted a fitting 92 which includes a screen 93V and is adapted to removably mount a brush 94.

When the user desires to utilize the brush unit 81she lifts it ot its stirrup 78 and," after turning on the valves 11, pulls the diverter valve knob 46. This moves the diverter valve washer 47 to the left (Fig. 2) and diverts water through the flow control and vacuum breaker to the water line 58 and the Venturi body 61. If the user desires a flow of clear water out of the brush 81 she does not cover the lateral opening 85. Air flows through the screen cap 89, and air hose 86 to the branch 64 of the suction line 63 so that even though `water is owing through the Venturi opening 62, the suction createdv When ,the user desires to mix deterthereby is broken. gent with the water flowing through the brush unit 81, she places her thumb over the screen cap 89. This breaks the flow of air through the path just described and creates vacuum in the detergent line 67 which draws detergent from the tank 68 through the -opening 69 and into the suction line 63 and the Venturi opening 62 whence it flows with the water through the water line 88 to the brush unit 81.

No cro-ss section of the opening 85, total area of .the screen 89 or the air hose 86 is smaller than the opening 53 (Fig. 2) in the ferrule 52 so that when water is running through the Venturi opening 62, and vacuumV is created in the suction line 63, the air hose is always aspirated first. become filled with water, e. g., if the handle unit 81 were left submerged, no detergent will be drawn from the tank 68 through the detergent line 67 until the water is drawn out of the air hose 86.

Mounting of the unit in a kitchen requires only the removal of the swing spout normally present on the kitchen fixture. After removal of the swing spout the adapter unit 21 with an appropriate set of jaws 26 is inserted into the open upper end of the spout mounting nipple 12. The tube 22 of the adapter 21Y is then held against rotation and the tapered end 24 threaded downwardly until the jaws 26 lock in place. The unit is then mounted on the adapter 21 in the manner already described and is ready to function.

Having described the invention, we claim:

1. A dishwashing apparatus for use with a water source comprising a swing spout, a Water line, a diverter valve for selectively connecting said water source to said spout and to said water line, a detergent reservoir, means in said water line for creating vacuum responsive to the ow of water in said water line and opening thereinto, a detergent line connecting said reservoir to said vacuum means, a hand brush unit, a flexible water hose connecting said brush to Vsaid water line beyond said vacuum creating means, an air vent to said vacuum creating means for breaking the'vacuum therein, an air hose connected to said air vent and leading with said water hose to said hand brush unit, and means at said hand brush unit whereby said air vent may be opened and closed selectively.

2. A dishwashing apparatus for use with a water source comprising a swingr spout, a water line, a diverter valve Therefore, even if the air hose 86 should for selectively connecting said water source to said spout and to said water line, a detergent reservoir, means in said water line for creating vacuum responsive to the flow of water in said water line and opening thereinto, a detergent line connecting said reservoir to said vacuum means, a hand brush unit, a exible water hose connecting said brush to said water line beyond said vacuum creating means, a eXible air hose connected to said vacuum creating means for breaking the vacuum therein and leading with said water hose to said brush unit, the end of said air hose opening to atmosphere at said brush unit and means on said hand brush unit whereby the atmosphere end of said air hose may be opened and closed selectively.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the vacuum creating means consists of a Venturi passageway in the Water line, and an aspirator opening leading to the restricted section of said Venturi passageway, the detergent line and air hose connections to said means being made to said aspirator opening.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 and a screen across the brush end of the air hose having a maximum single opening smaller than the aspirator opening to the Venturi passageway and a total area of all openings at least as large as the cross sectional area of said air hose.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 and means for restricting the flow through the detergent line relative to the flow through the air hose, whereby the action of the vacuum creating Venturi passageway aspirates the air hose prior to aspirating the detergent line when the air hose is not closed.

6. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the minimum cross section of the air hose leading from the brush handle to the Venturi aspirator opening is larger than the minimum cross section of the detergent line.

-7. A dishwashing apparatus for mounting in the sink lixture spout trunnion of a single spout, double valve sink xture, said apparatus having a water manifold comprising a tubular input passage, a swing spout output passage, a water line output passage and a diverter valve for alternately directing water from said input passage to said output passages, tubular mounting means for mechanically and hydraulically supporting said manifold in the sink fixture spout trunnion, a handbrush unit and water line connected between said handbrush unit and said water line output passage, a detergent reservoir supported on said manifold, a housing for said apparatus and means operable at said handbrush unit for selectively causing the flow of detergent from said reservoir and discharge with water from said handbrush.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said tubular mounting means comprises a nipple threaded into said manifold input water passage, a second nipple, means for mechanically positioning said second nipple in the end of the sink xture spout trunnion and coupling means Y joining said nipples for mechanically and hydraulically mounting and coupling said apparatus on and to said sink xture spout trunnion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,669,978 Gavaza May 15, 1928 1,997,431 Penick et al Apr. 9, 1935 2,238,969 Butterfield Apr. 22, 1941 2,302,097 Beckman Nov. 17, 1942 2,508,992 Soss May 30, 1950 2,652,850 Manville Sept. 22, 1953 2,705,622 Laub Apr. 5, 1955 

